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Videoclip of the Month!!!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Infernal War - Terrorfront

Infernal War - Terrorfront

Terrorfront is Infernal War’s debut album and it was released in 2005 by Agonia Records. This album is of the brutal black metal genre and it really has taken black metal to a whole new level when it comes of modern day bands. There aren’t many bands out there even today that can match the sheer pace and brutality of Infernal War. The only thing that would give these guys a run for their money would probably have to be Marduk.

Terrorfront is an insanely brutal album. It has thrown the atmosphere and emotions out the window and replaced it with speed. The best thing about this album is that it is brutal but it still has evidence of song structure, melody and a little bit of planning before creating a track. The transitions are nice and smooth and each song usually has a slow part and a fast part in it. There is nothing that is in between, it is either insanely fast or quite slow. This is good because it keeps a particular track from being really boring. Also this is a classic example of what modern day brutal black metal sounds like. They have given no evidence of trying to combine their music with other genres. It’s just straight up brutal black.

The main thing that this band wants to emphasise in their music is how brutal they are. This is a great example of what a modern black metal band should sound like. The mistake that many modern black metal bands do is try and rip off the old bands. Infernal War have really created their own sound here. Although some people might consider it to be a rip off of Marduk, they have the same pace but with a different sound. Although the riffs might sound a little similar to Marduk, the rest of the music is very different.

The vocalist has that classic black metal style of vocals. It is done hard enough so it still sounds like a scream but not so much that they sound very distorted and hard to understand. Surprisingly the vocalist has matched the pace of the music very well, he can talk fast enough to keep up and not sound like he is trying to scream a rap song that doesn’t make sense. Also he seems to sing in a very uniform pattern. When he starts a line he screams at a medium register, as he gets towards the last two words of each line he shifts to a higher register. This suits their musical style really well.

The drumming in this album is definitely one of the highlights of this album, it is extremely fast and I don’t mean that lightly. Everything the drummer does is fast, from the patterns he plays to his double kick. It really gives that extra boost to the sheer pace of the album. Also what a lot of bands seem to do is drum faster that what they should. Since they are insanely fast to begin with there is practically no speed limit. Also it sounds like they are using a metal skin on their drums, this really keeps the music sounding very tight and adds a little bit of technicality to their music. Also it is very high pitched. It sounds almost like hitting on the bottom of tin cans really fast, that’s how high pitched it sounds. Also many other bands tend to drown out their drums because they are probably scared that it might over power the rest of the music. Since the drumming is one of the best bits of this band they are not ashamed to go all out with it. The drumming is definitely not drowned out and definitely doesn’t over power any of the other instruments. Also the double kick is nice and fast and sounds very deep. It sounds almost like a humming sound when it’s done.

The other major highlight on of this album is the guitar work. They have really done well with this, the recording of them are almost perfect and also they have matched the pace of the music. The lead guitar and the rhythm guitar are very balanced with each other and the distortion of them seems to really suit their style of music. It’s not just the guitar work that highlights the album but it’s the guitar solos in particular which really bring the music alive. They have probably the best guitar solos I have heard in black metal, they go at 100 miles per hours and he seems to play so fast that it almost sounds like he is shredding the music into pieces. The distortion of the guitars combined with the way they are plays creates some of the most superb guitar work ever.

There are a few good tracks in this album. Most of them sound very similar though. They all have the same riffs, the same drumming and the same vocal style across the whole album. The first actual song, Crushing Impure Idolatry is probably the most outstanding track on the album. It has everything and sums up what this band is all in just one song. It ranges from mid to high speed tempos, it has 2 awesome guitar solos and drumming that goes extremely fast. Yep it definitely has everything. But there is a more insane track on this album and it is called The Grand Intolerance Manifestation, the whole song is just pure speed and energy. There is no slowing down at all during the time course of the track. Although it sounds like it is just all brutality, there is just one track on the whole album when it seems that speed is no object. This is a saviour, because without it the entire thing would sound plain and boring after a while. The track is Salvation, it seems to be the only track that has an element of emotion or atmosphere. The drums sound very different as well, that track sounds like it’s playing a really fast track but in slow motion and is decomposing the music.

Although this is definitely an outstanding album it is not perfect. The main thing that really lets this album down is the repetitiveness of it. It sounds almost exactly the same all the way through. The drumming is the same, the vocals are the same and even the guitar solos sound very similar to each other. I sounds like they have started recording the album but ran out of ideas half way through. The only exception to this is the song Salvation. It literally saves this album from being unbearably boring. Also they have gone for the technicality as well, and just like many bands out there. They sound very hollow at times and it seems that something is missing. This is quite bad because with a band like Infernal War, they cannot afford to lose the momentum of each track. But the drumming does keep it from sounding too hollow, because somehow. The drummer has managed to drum insanely quick pace with his hands and play an insanely quick double bass. Also it sounds like there is a lot of starting and stopping throughout the album as well but that doesn’t seem to have a huge impact on the music though, Surprisingly.

Overall this is an excellent debut album by an excellent brutal black metal band. These guys should be able to stand tall against the masters of brutal black metal Marduk. They are equally as fast and sound just like them except with a modern twist to the music. For people who like to go all out brutality and like the sheer speed of black metal, look no further. The track The Grand Intolerance Manifestation is an insanely fast track and I do not say that lightly. It will definitely suit anyone’s need for speed. For people who prefer the slower stuff, there is nothing that is dead slow but the track Salvation seems to be a more melodic track and gives me a break from all the chaos around it. It is the only song in the album that seems to have some kind of atmosphere or emotion. Lastly, for people who would prefer a balance of both. The track Crushing Impure Idolatry has both and it is definitely the standout song. It has an excellent intro and 2 really good guitar solos in it. Overall this is a very good album and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes extreme metal in general. It’s not bad but it’s the sheer repetitiveness that really lets this album down. If I were to give out a rating to the tracks individually, it would come close to getting a 17 or and 18. But as a whole, Terrorfront gets a 15/20.